Cycladic Marble Idol attributed to the Kontoleon Master

Greek · Cycladic, Kapsala variety, early Cycladic II, ca. 2700-2600 B.C.

Material

Marble

Dimensions

H: 17.7 cm (6.9 in)

Reference

36375

Price

POR

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Overview

Both simple and attractive in the design, this Cycladic marble statuette conveys a seductive power to the modern artistic taste. According to the chronological and typological systematization of Cycladic canonical figures (reclining female figures with folded arms), this marble statuette belongs to the earliest stage. It is assigned to the Kapsala variety (designated after the cemetery on the island of Amorgos, where the first examples of the type have been uncovered). Based on the execution of details and rendered proportions, the present figure was attributed to an anonymous sculptor named the Kontoleon Master, who was probably a native of the island of Naxos (the artist’s name is derived from the archaeologist Nikolaos Kontoleon, who excavated in the Cyclades). The characteristic features of the Kontoleon sculptor’s style are fully recognizable in this work. The long oval face has broad cheeks and a plastically rendered nose (some examples demonstrate painted facial details and hair). The neck is rather long; the softly round shoulders and the folded arms frame the pointed breasts set just above the tapered forearms. The long thighs are contrasted with short calves, which are modeled naturalistically. The knees are also indicated plastically; the feet, with lightly arched soles, are small and only partially separated. On the back, the spine was prominently incised. The profile of the figure, which is not thin, presents a group of forms differentiated by a special arrangement. This distinctive style, developed by the sculptor, is based on the combination of rounded forms and shapes modeled by planes and lines. The exact meaning and function of these Cycladic idols are not known. Supposedly, they were votive offerings or ritual objects.

Condition

Surface cleaned; the back with remains of thick encrustation; broken across the knees and mended with restoration material.

Provenance

Art market, prior to 1958;
Wolfgang Paalen (1905-1959) collection, France/Mexico; (Paalen was a well known surrealist painter with a collection of ancient and primitive art. Following his death, many masterworks from his private collection were acquired by museums, among them, the Denver Museum, The Museum of Primitive Art, NY, and the Seattle Art Museum.)
Dr. Paul (1896-1974) and Mary (1902-1986) Wescher private collection, California, acquired from above prior to 1958; (Dr. Paul Wescher was the first ever director of the early J.Paul Getty Museum from 1954 until 1959)
James B. Byrnes (1917 – 2011) and Associates, California; (James B. Byrnes was the first curator of modern and contemporary art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) from 1946 until 1952. In 1955, he relinquished his duties to become the director of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. He was also appointed director of the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh in 1958. In 1960 he became the director of the New Orleans Museum of Art and by 1972 he directed his final museum, the Newport Harbor Museum in Newport Beach, California. In 1975, Byrnes showed this idol to Dr. Dietrich von Bothmer, curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Eleonor Hill, curator at the Walters Gallery in Baltimore, who graciously studied it and found no reason to question its authenticity.)
Canadian estate, acquired from above 12 February 1976

Published

P.T. MALONE, ed., The Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Paul Wescher, The Art Center, La Jolla, 1958, no. 2. (illustrated on the cover)

Phoenix Ancient Art 2020 / 39 , no. 10

Exhibited

The Art Center in La Jolla (later known as the “La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art”), La Jolla, California, 10 January-16 February 1958, no. 2